


Looking for Happy

by JellyPanda00



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Diego really struggles with the whole brother thing, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Ex Detective!Diego, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Canon, Pseudo-Incest, Slow Burn, Takes place two years before the show, alcohol use, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 04:38:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18564070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyPanda00/pseuds/JellyPanda00
Summary: After a series of events leads Diego to one of the lowest moments of his life, fate just so happens to dump none other than a drug addicted Klaus into his lap after seven years of no contact. A week after their chance encounter, Diego receives a desperate phone call that leads them both on a journey that could either be a complete disaster or a romantic adventure.Can they help each other out of the dark graves they dug themselves into or will their time together only end in the same misfortune as the rest of their lives seems to be heading in?





	Looking for Happy

**Author's Note:**

> I've been really struggling on if I should post this or not since it can technically be seen as incest. This is also the first fanfic I've written that isn't solely based on sex so... we'll see how this goes I guess. If you noticed any glaring mistakes, let me know and I'll try and fix it lol

Diego was losing his goddamn mind. 

 

His whole world was caving in, the parts that had somehow remained standing these last few weeks giving in and crumbling down on his shoulders.

 

“I need your badge,  Hargreeves,” the captain demanded, sympathy lurking deep in his eyes yet his words said the opposite. 

 

“Common,” Diego begged with a sigh. “Please, you know it was-”

 

“It _ was  _ illegal,” the man snapped, the hidden anger bubbled over the top in his voice. “And I covered your ass because otherwise, you’d be in jail right now. You can’t go around like some kind of vigilante superhero no matter how…” he floundered, hands waving as he searched for the right words. “Righteous! It is. Look, kid, you would have made a great lieutenant someday, maybe even captain, but this isn’t how a man of the law does things. Badge and gun. Now.”

 

It left no room for argument. “Yeah?” Diego fumed. He could feel the regret bubbling up as the words left his mouth. “Fuck you,” he yanked hard on his holster strapped to his hip, letting it snap free. “I did the right thing and you fucking know it.”

 

With a slam that was the nails in his coffin, the gun clattered down onto the desk, still in the holster and the badge right behind it.

 

The captain opened his mouth to respond, but Diego couldn’t handle whatever it was he was about to say. He ran, shoving the door opened and darting into the busy bullpen, blood pounding in his ears.

 

Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes; whether from anger or sadness, he wasn’t sure. He weaved through the desks, avoiding eye contact from his friends and fellow officers until he got to his own further back in the room.

 

To add insult to injury, Eudora was sitting at her desk in front of his, eating her lunch and working on a case. His heart ached at the mere sight of her with how desperately he missed her. Everything in him wanted to reach out and hold her for comfort; wrap his arms around her and breathe in her familiar scent, to go back to their apartment again together. That isn’t what ex-lovers do though. She looked up as he neared with a hopeful expression on her pretty face. “Hey, did he take off the suspension?”

 

A lump in his throat made him bite back his reply. Glancing around, he grabbed his jacket that he had tossed in his chair when he had come in this morning. He had expected a slap on the wrist and the suspension to be lifted, not being fired completely. The phone call bringing him had been misleading, but it made sense. He wouldn’t have come at all if he knew this was how it was going to go.

 

He loved his job; it felt like he was made for it. The whole running around town, catching bad guys left and right was his calling in life. He had dedicated years of his life to working up to detective, made use of all that training he was forced through as a kid. For nothing.

 

“No-no.”

 

Diego grimaced, forcing the tears and humiliation down. He couldn’t stutter  _ and  _ cry. Not over something like this. “No. Just turned in my… my badge.”

 

There were no personal times to grab from his desk save for a picture of him and his partner which he quickly snatched and tucked into his pocket. He had half a mind to steal the little metal plaque with his name on it, but in the end, he had nothing to gain from it. They could throw it away with his drawer full of pens and snacks for all he cared.

 

“What?” she gasped, standing up like there was something she could do to help. “No way…”

 

He slugged his jacket on, ignoring the glances their coworkers were giving them at the ruckus they were causing. “It’s done, I gotta go.”

 

She gaped at him as he stormed off but didn’t chase after him. She at least knew him well enough to know when to leave it alone.

 

A few friends tried to approach him on his way out with friendly smiles and waves but he wasn’t having it. He could apologize some other time for the rude way he brushed passed them but now wasn’t the time. The walls felt like they were closing in, the itch of eyes following him making his skin crawl.

 

_ The perp deserved it and I don’t regret a damn thing,  _ he thought furiously as he made his way towards the back door that was closest to his car. Luckily, all he had to go through was the cells which meant few officers he knew well. He was only half way through however when a voice called out to him.

 

“Diego?”

 

Diego froze mid-step like a cartoon character. That voice was hauntingly familiar, like a distant memory; fuzzy at the edges and worn from time but unmistakable all the same. He looked up at the ghastly grey cells, searching for the face he once recognized like the back of his hand.

 

Low and behold in the drunk tank with two other men sat none other than his brother.

 

Klaus’ expression mirrored the look of surprise Diego no doubt wore as they studied each other through the bars. For some reason, Diego always pictured Klaus the same as when he had seen him last, ten years ago. His once semi-neat hair had gone wild and unruly with length and curls, eyeliner darkening his bright eyes and the meat from Grace’s home cooked meals and the muscles from their training was gone. Instead, he had gotten thin underneath his much bolder clothing choices of leather pants and a colorful crop top.

 

_ Of course he had changed _ , Diego shook himself. They’ve all changed. It was easy, he supposed, to know what Allison looked like as she was all over the tv every time he turned it on, and Vanya’s book had had her picture on the back. As for Luther and Klaus though, they had become a complete mystery to him for these past years.

 

“What the hell, Klaus?” he snapped. The low lying resentment boiled low in his gut, rearing its ugly head in the form of his harsh tone.

 

It had hurt when Klaus stopped talking to him — much more than it had his other siblings. He had always been his favorite, save for Ben.

 

“You know him?” the officer nearby asked, looking up from the paperwork she had been filling out at the desk nearby.   
  
“Yup!”

“Nope.”

 

Klaus pouted insufferably, wrapping his long, skinny arms around the bars.

 

“... That’s my brother,” he sighed, dropping the facade.

 

The officer grinned. “Well, would you like to take him home then? He’s been a real pain in the ass but he only ended up with a fine for public intoxication.”

 

“No.” End of story. He wasn’t about to deal with him and his useless noise and drugs and mess on top of the absolute shit show his life had become.

 

Klaus whined, bottom lip stuck out like a child. “Please, Diego?” 

 

_ Leave him, _ his mind screamed.  _ Let someone else deal with it. Klaus decided he wasn’t his problem when he cut contact all those years ago and he wasn’t going to cave… _

 

“Goddammit. You owe me big time,” he pointed angrily. Klaus smiled back giddily.

 

Diego paid the fine, assuming Klaus couldn’t do it himself and signed the paper while the man adorned his jacket: a pink, ugly coat that looked like an old ladies couch with bits of pink fur lining it. Somehow, he made it work, though he still looked homeless.

 

He stayed quiet as he followed Diego out of the precinct. Without even asking, the asshole wiggled past him and into the backseat of his car with a smug grin like the cat who ate the canary. Diego was on the brink of a meltdown.

 

Of course, as soon as he shut his door, the man in the back began to blabber. Diego couldn’t even force himself to listen to it too closely but he got the gist. Drugs, parties, how he ended up in the tank, how good breakfast sounded to him.

 

It was a constant stream of mindless nonsense that had no end in sight. All at once it was too much: the chatter, the loud rock song on the radio, the missing weight at his hip where his gun should be, his badge not digging into his thigh anymore.

 

“Klaus! Can you shut the fuck up?” he growled angrily, smacking the radio until it went silent so he could turn and glare him down.

 

Klaus stopped, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. The urge to punch him took hold of him at the stupefied look on his face. He wanted to go back in and punch the shit out of the captain too even though once upon a time he idolized the man. He especially, more than anything, wanted to go back in time and beat the shit out of the perp he lost his job over even more than he already had.

 

“Diego? Buddy?” Klaus asked softly. “You okay?”

 

Diego didn’t want to see a sympathetic, patronizing look or a “caring” voice right now. Without a word, he clenched his jaw and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot quickly. It proved to be a good enough distraction to keep Klaus from saying anything else.

 

In hindsight, his mistake was not paying enough attention to his brother, just like old times. He had concentrated too hard on driving to notice Klaus clambering up into the front seat. Diego didn’t have time to protest as he contorted himself through the tiny gap until he fell into the passenger side in a heap of gangly limbs and ghastly pink. He sat up with a huff, straightening himself out and looking at him expectantly.

 

“What happened?” a warm hand laid down on Diego’s forearm. He flinched away, shaking away the contact.

 

“Nothing, just… put your seatbelt on.”

 

Miraculously, he followed orders for once, putting on his seatbelt and keeping quiet the rest of the drive.

 

Thankfully, it was only a ten-minute drive to his favorite place. He all but threw himself out of the car as soon as he pulled over, hoping Klaus wouldn’t follow. They could catch up some other time, he figured, if he decided to stick around long enough, but for right now he needed a minute alone to breathe.

 

Eudora had been the one to bring him to this particular river. The first time they came here was after closing one of the hardest cases they had ever worked on just after he had been promoted to detective. They had sat down on the cement right then and there and bonded over convenience store sandwiches. After that, it became their spot before things had gone downhill.

 

Diego carelessly threw himself down on the pavement, not caring for the spike of pain in his hands and wrists that broke his fall. The pain was grounding in a way, bringing him back to reality as he let out a breath the didn’t know he had been holding. The river stank like fish and pollution and the roar of traffic behind him was deafening but it all gave a sense of calming in an indescribable way.

 

Eons passed just staring at the sparkling water and the skyline. The cold bit at his cheeks but it helped his overheated anger simmer away. The river always reminded him of Mom. He joked with Eudora that the trash and gunk surrounding it was his father and his Mom was like the blue-green waters and the serene beauty of it all. His heart ached at the thought. He wished he could see her again someday without having to see their dad or even Pogo for that matter.

 

He is 27 years old though and wishing to see his mom wasn’t going to fix anything. He’d lost his girlfriend when he got suspended a week ago over what he did, he moved out of their nice apartment and into the basement of the gym he frequented, and now to top it all off, he lost the job he loved most. It felt like his whole world was crumbling down around him and he didn’t have the answers to make it stop. All the shattered pieces of it seemed to fall on his shoulders with all the weight of the world as he asked himself what he was going to do next.

 

The sound of a car door shook him out of the serene scenery and turmoil of his mind but he didn’t turn around. He waited until Klaus carefully plopped down next to him.

 

“Still don’t want to talk about it?”

 

The words were not unkind but felt invasive all the same.

 

When it was obvious he wasn’t going to receive an answer, Klaus refrained from pushing for once and simply laid back to stare at the sky in silence.

 

It was surprising how comfortable their companionship felt with how much remained unsaid between them. Diego guessed they had sat there for another hour at least when Klaus began to snore lightly next to him.

 

He couldn’t help but grin at his sleeping form before slapping his hand down hard on the man’s leather-covered thigh. The crack of the leather broke the peaceful air, startling the man awake. He sat up, looking around wildly. “Jesus fuck Diego! Was that necessary?!”

 

“Nope, but it was funny,” he smirked, pushing himself up and off the ground. “Let’s go, I’m taking you to a bus stop or something.”

 

Klaus grumbled something under his breath but faithfully followed Diego back to the car and into the passenger seat yet again to Diego’s dismay.

 

“Hey, Diego?”   
  


“Hmm?” he hummed back absentmindedly as he tried to think of where a good place would be to take his brother.

 

“You wanna… go get something to eat?”

 

The very thought of being in a public setting made his skin crawl. Diego turned a withering gaze to Klaus who pouted like a child.

 

Diego glared harder. Klaus stuck out his lip.

 

Time seemed frozen as they held each other’s gaze like an unspoken game of “don’t blink,” brown boring into dilated green until tears pooled at the corners of their eyes.

 

“Fuck,” Diego sighed, giving in to temptation and shutting his eyes tightly. Klaus laughed, dramatically throwing his head back against the seat and clapping him on the shoulder. “Waffles please.”

 

“I should have left you in the tank,” Diego growled, though it lacked heat.

 

Somehow, despite his annoyance, the entire interaction left his chest feeling lighter than before.

 

Klaus hummed, “and miss out on spending quality bro time? You’d never.”

 

He reached between them, fiddling with the radio for a second and turning the music back up. It was some shitty 80’s pop song playing softly and filling the silence, something he’d forever deny enjoying as Klaus bopped his head along to.

 

The drive was pleasant for the most part. Diego already had a diner in mind as he got back on the highway that had decent food. Klaus could order his waffles or whatever weird food he wanted and Diego could get something actually acceptable for lunch.

 

“Oh shut up,” Klaus snapped after a few minutes of silence.

 

Diego furrowed his brows. “I didn’t say anything?”

 

“Not you, don’t worry dear.”

 

The reminder that Klaus was still on drugs hit him like a brick. No amount of years could change that, he mused as the man no doubt was hallucinating in the seat next to him just like old times.  _ How did the police only manage to pick him up for public intoxication and not something worse? _

 

The rest of the drive felt too tense to be comfortable, the air heavy with things unsaid until they got to the local diner Diego had in mind. They both exited the car quickly to escape the stifling emotions and ducked inside the restaurant.

 

It almost resembled the doughnut shop they used to sneak out to when they were kids with an old fashioned theme, chrome lined pastel walls and old fashioned bar seats made to look like something out of a movie or daydream.

 

It also lacked customers, another reason he had chosen to bring them here. The lunch rush had already died down this late in the afternoon.

 

“Oh, I am so excited,” Klaus sighed dreamily. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse. Couldn’t you?”

 

Diego just shook his head, looking at the other’s skinny body and wondering when the last time he ate was.

 

Klaus immediately went for the bar, already working on shrugging his coat off and ready to converse with the only other patron there: a lonely looking older woman but Diego grabbed onto his sleeve and steered him into a booth where it would be obvious they weren’t here to socialize.

 

“Aye,” he whimpered, pushing his harsh grip off of his shoulder. “Asshole! I’m delicate,” he scooted into the seat with a petulant look.

 

“I am not an asshole. An asshole would have left your ass in jail,” Diego pointed in a warning. Klaus threw his hands up to show he was dropping the subject, finally giving him a good look at the tattoos he hadn’t seen on him before. “Hello” and “Goodbye” were scrawled on his palms, reminding him of one of the ouija boards that had both hello and goodbye written on them.

 

A friendly old man approached their booth with a smile, a pen in hand already poised to write down their orders. “What can I get started for you boys?”

 

Diego looked down at the menus laying on the table already, but as he opened his mouth to answer, Klaus interjected. “We’d like two orders of the jumbo chocolate chip pancakes with whip cream, syrup, and I want strawberries, he’d rather have banana. And! Orange juice for me, coffee for him.”

 

He didn’t so much as glance at Diego in confirmation. “Alrighty, I’ll be right back with those drinks.”

 

Klaus shot him a satisfied grin.

 

The urge to strangle him returned. “I didn’t want pancakes.”

 

“Well from how pissed off you are today, I think you probably need them,” Klaus quipped back, tossing his jacket next to him. “Do you still not want to talk about it?”

 

“... I got fired.”   
  
“From what?”

 

Diego looked at him incredulously. “The police department? Why else would I have been there this morning walking around in the ‘police only area’?”

 

“Ya know,” Klaus grinned goofily. “I honestly didn’t think that far. So why’d you get fired?”

 

Diego clammed up at that. When a reply never came, Klaus laid down against the table, covering his eyes and changing the subject. “Ugh, today has been a long night. I need to go to bed soon.” he peaked out through his fingers. “Can I crash at yours?”

 

“One, its noon. Two, I don’t think so.”

 

“Please? I’ll be the best house guest you’d ever had,” he whined in a sing-song voice.

 

Diego raised his eyebrows in a challenge. “I’m renting a room in the gym I go to until I find a better place. There’s only a bed in there pretty much.”

 

“We can share,” a sneaky booth traced up his leg under the table. Diego flushed, quickly kicking him away and trying to ignore the way his skin tingled where he had touched.

 

“There’s no doors, no privacy.”

 

“Just like old times! Well I mean, we had doors but remember those creepy cameras all over the place? Common, it’ll only be a day at most.”

 

“Orange juice?”

 

They both jumped back at the sudden voice, too wrapped up in their conversation to notice the man approaching with their drinks. He shook as he sat down the glass and the mug in front of Diego. “You two make a very nice couple. My grandson’s got himself a boyfriend too ya know.”

 

“We’re not together!” Diego yelped But his words were covered up by Klaus’s.

 

“Thank you, that’s so sweet. Isn’t it, baby?” Klaus asked, flattening himself against the table with a hand on Diego’s forearm and looking up at him with an adoring smile as if he hung the moon and the stars around it.

 

They weren’t really related; not in the slightest. They didn’t even have the bond that real adopted sibling had or any sort of the like. If anything, it felt more like childhoods friends turn strangers but it still felt… wrong? Like some kind of pseudo-incest. And yet, Diego’s heart sped up a little at the look on his “brother’s” face, cheeks warming.

 

Their server chuckled softly, bringing him out of his own thoughts before tittering off to the kitchen.

 

Once he was out of earshot, Diego turned to Klaus, heart hammering as he spits out the words “you don’t think that it’s even a little weird to pretend we’re dating?”

 

_ Why did he say that? Why bring it up at all? _ He asked himself angrily, shrugging off his hand from his arm as if it had burnt him. An evil voice in the back of his head knew the truth though.  _ Because you want to talk about it. _

 

_ You want him to say it’s not weird. _

 

“Nah,” Klaus leaned back against his seat.

 

An underlying current seemed to jolt through his body.

 

“Besides, if we were really a couple, it’s not like we’d be the first in our cute little family. Allison and Luther? Definitely shaking up.”

 

The little old lady sitting at the bar gave them both a horrified look. Diego cringed, avoiding her eyes while Klaus gave her a smile and nod.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I could see that happening. Disgusting.”

 

Their pancakes were brought out shortly after, breaking up their conversation. Maybe, he conceded, pancakes were a good idea. He didn’t complain, much to Klaus’s amusement.

 

Another thought occurred to him as he studied his brother who began shoveling pancakes in as fast as he could manage. He had aged. For some reason, he still pictured Klaus as he was when he last saw him at 21, but as they neared 28, time was beginning to make its mark on them. “Have you spoken to any of the others?”

 

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’. “Definitely not. I bet Dad is livid right now. His whole little academy fell apart so easily. It’s kinda sad. Did you read Vanya’s book about us though?”

 

“Yup,” he vividly recalled using her picture from it as a punching bag afterward too. “I could go without seeing her ever again. Luther too.”

 

“I like Allison still,” Klaus supplied. “But I can’t ever get ahold of her. I heard a rumor she’s famous now.”

 

Diego snorted softly around a mouthful of pancake. “That was so lame.”

 

They continued to lightly jab at their siblings and wonder what they were doing now, how much they disliked Vanya’s book, all the things in it she got wrong. It was light and nice, the kind of distraction Diego needed.

 

Occasionally, Klaus would blink hard or cover his face like he was dizzy, dropping the conversation until he was back in his body and could continue.

 

_ Withdrawals _ , Diego noted, watching how his hands shook as he tried to cut into the last of his pancakes.

 

“Oof, yeah hold on,” he groaned, reaching over into his jacket and fishing around. He pulled out a tiny baggie filled with suspicious white pills and popped a few into his mouth.

 

“Dude, come on. In public just like that, huh?”

 

“Yup,” he stuck his tongue out gleefully, the pills sitting in foam as they began to dissolve in his mouth. He winked at the affronted older lady who was still watching them before grabbing his juice and tossing back the drink. He tucked the bag back into the bright pink pocket and gave Diego a pointed look. “So now what? Ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

 

He looked down at their almost finished pancakes and shrugged. “If you want.”

 

“Is it unlocked then?” Klaus asked, already standing up and stretching so his cropped shirt rose ever higher up his chest. “Because I don’t have any money so…”

 

“Yeah,” Diego rolled his eyes. With that, Klaus turned and left without another word.

 

“Oh dear,” their server sighed, watching him leave from behind the bar. “Is he alright?”

 

“Yes sir, he just isn’t feeling too great,” he lied. “Can I get the check?”

 

“Sure, sure…” he fiddled around his apron pockets before producing a ticket. He waddled back over and held it out for him. Diego quickly handed him his card, glancing out the window to make sure his car was still there.

 

It was, thankfully. Not that Klaus would steal his whole car right in front of him. Or at least, he hoped he wouldn’t. The old man came back quickly with his card and receipt, wishing him a good day.

 

He was sure to leave a larger tip than he normally would seeing as how Klaus had done literal drugs in the middle of the diner and left as soon as he could.

 

By the time he made it out to the car, Klaus was laying in the backseat again instead of the passenger side, whining loudly.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” Diego smirked, trying not to laugh.

 

“Every time I close my eyes!!” he yelped, hands fisted tightly over his face. “It's like… oh shit,” he gagged.

 

Diego cringed away from him. “Gross dude. If you’re gonna barf, I’m taking you to the nearest bus stop and leaving you there.”

 

“I think I took too much.”

 

“What did you take?”

 

Klaus sat there for a minute, unresponsive before answering. “... that’s a great question, actually.”

 

Diego rolled his eyes again. He wasn’t a praying man, but he found himself hoping to god that Klaus wasn’t about to OD in the back of his janky ass car. “Do you need to throw up or are you ready to go?”

 

Klaus rolled over, tucking his face into the seats and keeping his back to his brother. “Whenever your ready, dear!” he held a shaky thumbs up.

 

The ride to his place was filled with moans and groans from Klaus and threats to throw up at every sharp turn. After a while, the jerky ride became intentional as he grew more annoyed with the whining man in the back.

 

By the time they got to the gym, it was late afternoon but the evening crowd hadn’t yet begun filling the gym, though it would soon. He parked in the back with the employees and quickly hauled the man out. Klaus grumbled at the movement, nuzzling his face into the side of his neck. The scratch of his goatee made Diego itch but he couldn’t escape his grip without dropping him as Klaus wrapped his arms around him tightly. “Stop spinning,” he whispered against his skin.

 

Diego shivered. “I’m not spinning.”

 

Klaus just laughed lightly and let Diego drag him into the building and down into the loft.

 

The second they had managed to get down the stairs without falling, Klaus began patting at Diego until he let go of him. He stumbled into the room, looking around and inspecting the sad living space. Diego had only lived there a week and hadn’t had time to unpack anything. The walls were bare cement, his belongings scattering the floor and boxes tucked into corners. Klaus looked back at him. “Wow. This sucks.”

 

“You suck. Shut up.”

 

“I do suck actually, and swallow.” Klaus threw his head back and winked at Diego over his shoulder. His pupils were blown so wide only a sliver of green was visible anymore. His movements were too jerky and a light sheen of sweat was visible under the dull light.

 

Any other time, if Klaus wasn’t so high maybe, he might have blushed at the implications as he started kicking off his shoes, his coat long forgotten in the car. 

 

“Oooh…” he cooed, looking at the radio sitting on the dresser, one of the only things he had sitting out. With a sharp jab, music filled the room. He turned it up loudly, much too loud to be acceptable, bouncing excitedly like a child. “Don’t you love this song?”

 

“ The dream police, they live inside of my head, the dream police, they come to me in my bed-”

 

His sharp hip bones stuck out above his horribly tight pants as he began to sway to the beat of the music. It didn’t match the song, the moves far too slow for the faster pace but it was entrancing.

 

“Common, Di-e-go,” he held out his hands to Diego who still stood at the bottom of the stairs.

 

“No,” Diego objected immediately, taking a step away. “Hell no.”

 

“Please?” he begged, running a hand through his messy hair and musing it up more than before.

 

It was tempting. The idea of letting go was like a siren's song: to give up all care and let loose. But the tension of the day left him feeling too empty and high strung to do so.

 

Klaus danced alone until the end of the song before giving up. With a sad huff, he collapsed against the bed, not even complaining when Diego shut off the radio.

 

“I swear every time I move too fast there’s someone standing over me,” Klaus whined, shutting his eyes tightly. “Imma take a nap.”

 

“You do that,” Diego shook his head, glancing at his gym bag. He could go work out for a while and blow off some steam while the other slept.

 

Once again though, Klaus offered a hand out to Diego. In a sweet, soft voice he asked quietly “nap with me?”

 

Suddenly, Diego felt like he could go for a nap. The way Klaus stretched out in _ his _ sheets asking for him to join too did it for him. His brother had gotten more and more attractive over the years and it was so very tempting.

 

Against his better judgment, he followed, pushing his shoes off and crawling into the full-size bed. With two grown men, it was a tight space but by the time Diego got comfortable, Klaus was already snoring next to him.

 

As they laid there, Klaus slowly inched closer and closer until he flopped over completely on him, a mess of curls tickling Diego’s nose and a surprisingly muscular arm wrapped around his chest.

 

He was always a cuddler, Diego mused. When they were younger and Klaus was afraid of the ghosts that sought him out, he’d sneak into his sibling's rooms. Usually, it was Ben’s but on a rare occasion, he would go to someone else's like Diego’s or Allison’s. It stopped after the mausoleum. They had all assumed it was because he wasn’t afraid anymore as if one of their dad’s crazy torture schemes had actually worked. In hindsight, it was because he was too high or drunk to see them anymore. Guilt ate at Diego just thinking about it and how he hadn’t helped him.

 

He batted the hair out of his face, sleep tugging at the fringes of his mind. Before long, the comfortable weight of his brother sleeping on top of him lulled him into dreams. As much of a pain in the ass he was, Klaus was strangely comforting. A distraction from the mess his life had become recently. Vaguely, he hoped he would stick around for a while. It was hard not to miss his family even after all this time.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

 

When Diego woke up, he was alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Welp... here we are. Sorry it was so bad lmao. Come talk to me on twitter! I'd love to be more involved in this fandom ((and I have like two friends and I really need more)) @ jellypanda00


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